Page 10 of Bound By Them
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Sure.” I pretend I don’t care. I pretend I don’t feel.
“Nurture whatever you have going on with her.” Dad walks back behind his desk and sits down in a silent dismissal.
I hesitate.
“What?” Dad’s eyes flash dangerously.
“Nurture…can you be more specific?”
“Fuck her, befriend her, I don’t care. Keep her close. We have an in with the family and we need to use it.”
“Got it.”
I’ve wanted out of the family business before. But never as much as I want out now.
I wait, stock-still, until Dad says, “Get out. Take the runt with you.”
I spin and bolt from the room. “Arky, let’s go.”
He scrambles to obey, following me out of Dad’s office and nearly tripping me in the process. Troy joins us on the way out. I know better than to talk to him about anything important here. If my dad sees how loyal Troy is, how much I trust him, he’ll use Troy against me.
Just like he wants to use Danica.
I give Arky a treat in the kitchen, then say goodbye to him at the door.
It breaks my heart to leave the dog behind. Then again, it always does.
Because I fucking feel too much.
Danica
The morning after my crazy interlude with Edmund and Troy, and the implosion of my family, I find myself at Dmitri’s house, fighting off new tears of rage.
My talk with Dmitri has been, in a word, a shitshow. And talking with Leah is even worse. They lied about their relationship, going behind my back so they could hook up.
If they have each other, why the freaking fuck would they ever need me?
Leah sits in Dmitri’s bed, wearing one of his old t-shirts, looking small and sad.
I feel for her, truly. I want to cry and rage because of everything she’s gone through in the past twelve hours.
But I also feel like I don’t know her anymore. She’s with Gage Hawthorne, too? He’s a freaking movie star. So she’s with him and with my brother.
She never said a word. It’s like we’re not even friends. Friends tell each other important things, and I think that dating both a celebrity and my brother—two guys at once—constitutes an important thing.
“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t talk to me,” I tell her.
Leah pauses, briefly closing her blue eyes. “I was afraid you wouldn’t approve. I was afraid you’d be mad at me. I was being stupid, I guess. If I could go back, I’d do things differently.”
I speak before thinking, because the words are right the fuck there, waiting to be said. “I know I’m judgmental sometimes. Okay, all the time. But I try not to judge you. If you want to be with Dmitri, well, great. Yeah, it could mess up our group dynamic. And speaking of group dynamics, Leah. Dmitri and Gage?”
Leah’s face twists.
“Sorry. That was judgy.” Way too judgy. Especially after what I did last night with Edmund and Troy. “I’ll stop. If you’re happy, I’ll be happy, too. But that said…I’m really hurt that you didn’t talk to me. I need some time.”
We say a few more words. She asks about my hand, bruised from where I punched Patrick last night. Then we say goodbye.
